


Winterlude

by davecabbage



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 10:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3526373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davecabbage/pseuds/davecabbage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chuck and Raleigh's Alaskan road trip gets interrupted by some bad weather and a crappy car, but it's not actually as bad as it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winterlude

**Author's Note:**

> So there's a lot of headcanons, fan art and fics out there (I'm guilty of one of these fics myself) where Chuck is the one who suffers in the cold weather and well, I wanted the reverse of that too.
> 
> Fic title inspired by Bob Dylan's Winterlude.

“Piece of shit.” Chuck slammed the bonnet of the car down and kicked at one of the front tires in frustration. Of course the sorry excuse for a vehicle would break down on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. They never seemed to die on a guy someplace someplace a little more ideal like outside a gas station or an auto shop. No, that would be far too convenient.

“You’re mechanical skills are impressive.” Raleigh leaned out of the driver’s window and watched Chuck glare down at the car as if that would have any better effect on the machine than attacking it. “You fix a lot of cars with that method?”

Chuck ignored his jibe and kicked at the snow instead. “It’s dead.”

“I’ll call for a tow.” He withdrew back into the car and fished out his cell phone.

“This is what I get for letting _you_ drive.” Chuck groused.

Raleigh marvelled at his childish accusation. “Yeah because me driving is what caused the engine to give out.”

“Bet we’d still be on the road if it was me behind the wheel.”

Raleigh rolled his eyes in response, dialled and held the phone up to his ear. “If it was you behind the wheel we’d probably be in a ditch, or a tree.”

“Oi, fuck off, I’m a good driver.”

“Not on ice you’re not.” He remembered with a grimace Chuck’s attempt at driving on one of the many icy roads on offer when they had first arrived. When he had said he wanted to stop in at the drug store he hadn’t meant driving the damned car through the store window as Chuck almost had.

“Oi, I was going slow enough. No one died.” His claim was true enough, although Raleigh suspected that the startled old woman who happened to have chosen that moment to step out of the store was damned close to keeling over from a heart attack.

“Luckily you had me to take the wheel.” Raleigh smirked. “Besides you can barely move with all those damned layers you’ve wrapped yourself in.” The voice on the other end of the phone distracted Raleigh from whatever insult Chuck sent his way.

Chuck began to pace in front of the car while he waited for Raleigh to arrange their rescue. He hated Alaska. He couldn’t figure out why people actually chose to live here. It was so fucking _cold_. He’d almost frozen his balls off when he stepped off the plane in his usual attire. He knew Alaska was going to be cold but not hypothermia inducing freezing. Raleigh had sure picked a fucking wonderful time of year for their visit too; the level of snowfall had increased every day they had been there.

The first thing Chuck did on arriving was drag Raleigh to the nearest mall and proceeded to buy enough layers to clothe an entire family. Raleigh had clutched his stomach and almost fell over laughing when Chuck emerged from the bedroom under an assortment of winter wear ready to brave the cold the next day.

“What…? What the fuck are you wearing?” Raleigh asked between bouts of laughter. “Or is it easier to ask what you’re not wearing?”

“Fuck you.” Chuck had shot him the darkest look from behind the scarves looped around the lower half of his face. “Just because I agreed to this trip doesn’t mean I have to freeze my balls off and die while I’m here. I’d like to go home in economy rather than a fucking coffin.”

“Oh come on.” Raleigh pulled at one of his scarves. “This is excessive, even for you.”

“We’ll see when you’re the one losing your dick to frostbite and I’m all warm and toasty.” Chuck retorted.

“That’s your loss as much as mine.”

“I think I can manage.”

“Bullshit.”

He still couldn’t fathom how Raleigh could leave the hotel in just a thick sweater and a jacket. He called bullshit on the whole being a native thing; it just wasn’t natural to be that impervious to the cold. There was something seriously wrong with the guy.

The only good thing about the place was the fact it had produced a specific gorgeous blonde with washboard abs and a smile to melt all the fucking snow in the land. Chuck still lamented the fact that it actually didn’t. Other than that, the place was a hellish nightmare and he couldn’t wait for the trip to be over so they could travel back home to where the temperature was liveable and there wasn’t such a high risk of losing fingers or toes when leaving the house.

Raleigh leaned out of the car window again after hanging up and re-pocketing his cell phone. “I’ve got good news and bad news.”

Chuck looked up from the small pile of snow he had scraped together with his boot. “Out with it then.”

“Good news is that someone will be out to save our asses.”

“Right, and the bad news?”

“It’s gonna be a three hour wait. Minimum.” Raleigh grit his teeth and braced himself for the inevitable explosive reaction.

Chuck stared at him open mouthed. “What…?”

“Weather seems to be getting worse a lot quicker than people thought it would.” Raleigh sighed. “We’re out in the middle of nowhere and turns out we’re not the only idiots who thought we could make their journeys before the worst of this freak weather hit.”

Raleigh waited and let Chuck take his rage out on the defenceless patches of snow on the ground with a stomping of his boots. “Feel better?”

“No.” Chuck panted and gave one last kick at the snow. The patches of ground he had uncovered with his boots were quickly starting to fill again from the still falling snow.

“Get back in the car, Chuck.” Raleigh used what Mako had taken to calling his ‘soothing’ voice, which was almost exclusively reserved for use on Chuck, to coax him back inside.

“Ugh.”

“Chuck.”

“Alright, alright.” Chuck trudged back to the car and climbed into the backseat.

Raleigh watched him in the front mirror. “Problem with the front?”

“If I’m gonna be stuck here for bloody ages, I might as well make myself comfortable.”

“Fair enough.” Raleigh got out and climbed in the back with him. He drummed his fingers on his knee before glancing sideways at Chuck. “So, backseat of the car…wanna make out?”

Chuck shot him an incredulous look back. “What are you, a fucking teenager?”

“That a no?”

“…no.”

“No you don’t wanna make out or no that wasn’t a no and you wanna make out?”

“….what?”

“I- never mind. Come here.”

Chuck shuffled awkwardly over to Raleigh but it was difficult to get close enough with all of the layers wrapped around him. Raleigh attempted to get an arm around him but between the layers and the confined space it was a more difficult feat than they would have thought.

“Just-” Raleigh attempted to lean in but it was more like trying to climb over him. He attempted to push down and flatten Chuck’s puffy coat but it was solid due to the layers between Chuck and the coat. “Fuck, hold still.”

“Fuck sake, shift over to the left would yah? No, _your_ left.” Chuck huffed and made a grab for Raleigh who almost fell out of his seat but ended up stuck between the back of the front seat and the floor thanks to the cramped space.

“It’s like trying to hug a whale.” Raleigh whined and pulled himself back up. “How many layers are you wearing?”

“Not _that_ many.” Chuck snapped. “Fuck off its cold.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that cold.”

“I’m freezing my arse off.”

Raleigh gave up his fruitless attempts and fell back into his seat, leaning back against the door. “I hate this car.”

“Fucking rentals.” Chuck gave the front seat a kick in agreement.

“Could be worse, I suppose.” Raleigh mused, staring out of the window at the falling snow.

Chuck shot him a dirty look. He couldn’t possibly imagine how this trip from hell could get any worse. Unless a fucking bear showed up and mauled them both. Now what were the chances of that happening, he wondered and cast a brief glance out of the window. “…how?”

“Tow might not turn up. Could be stuck out here overnight.” Raleigh suggested with a shrug.

“I will kick your arse out of this car.” Raleigh laughed lightly to himself, but Chuck failed to see the humour in spending the night in the cramped car with a potential blizzard snowing them under and entombing them. He wondered how his old man would react to hearing his son bit it thanks to some snow and a shitty rental.

Raleigh grinned at the effect of his teasing but Chuck couldn’t help but notice the visible puffs of breath issuing from his lips. “You wouldn’t last the night if we were.” He added with the tiniest tinge of concern in his voice.

“I’m fine.” Raleigh shrugged, but he had already wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed at his arms in a futile effort to get a little warmer.

“Bullshit.”

“I’m not cold.”

“You’re fucking shivering, mate.”

“It’s not _that_ bad.”

“Try saying that without chattering teeth.”

Raleigh clenched his jaw in an effort to still his teeth but it didn’t last long. “Not all of us are put out by a little bit of cold weather.”

“This ain’t a little bit.” Chuck countered. “Just admit it, you’re cold.”

“If I do will you shut up about it?” Raleigh snapped back. “You constantly reminding me isn’t helping any.”

“All these layers don’t seem so stupid now, eh?” Chuck smirked and patted his coat. “Bet you feel like a right idiot after making fun of me now, huh?”

“How about you shut up and lend me some instead?” Raleigh bit back, glaring at him.

“What? And let myself freeze? I don’t bloody think so.” Chuck pulled one of the scarves around his neck tighter. “’Sides, thought you weren’t cold?”

“I’m not. It’s just…a little chilly.”

And Chuck thought he was a stubborn arsehole. “Chilly my arse. It’s fucking freezing. Just admit it. You fucked up and now you’re cold.”

“If I do will you spare me a sweater or something?” The look on his face reminded Chuck of the big puppy eyes Max would use on him for food or attention. It was hard not to just give in from that alone, but Chuck wasn’t called a smug annoying bastard by almost everyone he knew for nothing. He probably shouldn’t be as proud of that fact as he was either.

“Give me a second, I need to savour this moment. Raleigh Becket admitting that he was wrong and I was right.” He patted at his pockets. “Hold on, lemme grab my phone and record this moment and immortalise it.”

“Fuck you.” Raleigh turned away from him and wrapped his arms around himself.

Chuck bit his lip, seeing that he had gone too far. “Oh for fuck sake. C’mere.”

Raleigh heard the sound of a zipper and turned back to see Chuck pulling his coat open. “What’re you doin-”

“Just c’mere before you freeze to death.” Chuck gestured at his open coat.

“I’m not taking your coat, Chuck.” Raleigh began to protest. “Then you’ll be the one-”

“Who said I was giving you my coat? I ain’t that generous.” He grabbed Raleigh by the arm and pulled him back up against his chest and wrapped his jacket around him as best he could. Luckily for the both of them he had gone for a ridiculously oversized one for extra warmth and to accommodate for all of the layers in-between. Raleigh shifted about in his grip until he made himself comfortable. “’Course I’m not gonna let you freeze, idiot.”

Raleigh felt him rest his chin on the top of his head and he relaxed back into Chuck’s chest. “Well, now I’m glad I forgot my warmer jacket.”

“Guess your stupidity paid off for once.” Chuck pulled his gloves off with his teeth and tossed them aside. He snaked his arms around his waist and interlinked his finger’s with Raleigh’s and guided them underneath his sweater, resting them on his stomach. 

Raleigh sighed. “I wasn’t expecting the freak weather to hit so fast. I figured I’d be fine with the heater cranked up but now that’s dead.”

Chuck shrugged. “Can’t predict the shitty weather around here.”

“It wasn’t so bad, growing up here. Snowball fights and building forts with Yance and Jaz.” He smiled fondly to himself at the memories. “You get used to it.”

“I hope that’s not a hint.”

“Relax, I’m not thinking about relocating.”

“Good, because you’d be doing it by yourself.”

They both sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, watching the snow fall outside.

“Do you miss it?” Chuck eventually asked, breaking the silence.

“Alaska?” Raleigh lapsed into quiet contemplation. “Yes…and no. It holds a lot of memories for me. Good and bad. But…”

Chuck kept his mouth shut, waiting for him to continue in his own time, and gently stroked the back of Raleigh’s hand with his thumb.

“I miss the time I spent here with my family. I miss those times with Yancy and Jaz, and my mom. But…there’s nothing keeping me here anymore.” His voice grew quieter as he spoke. “I miss a version of Alaska that’s not there anymore. I miss a place that I can never go back to.”

Chuck squeezed his hand and pressed a kiss on to the top of his head in response.

It was Raleigh who eventually broke the following silence that befell them. “What about you? Miss Sydney?”

Chuck shrugged. “Was my home. Now it’s not.”

Raleigh knew Chuck wasn’t one for sentimentality and nostalgia but he was still a little taken aback at Chuck’s casual response. “So you’d never go back?”

“I’d visit. Wouldn’t stay though.” Raleigh didn’t push him and Chuck was grateful for it. He wasn’t afraid of the ghosts that lingered in his homeland but he didn’t want to stay long enough for them to haunt him. “Hong Kong was my home. Now that isn’t either. I like where we live now but if we had to I could uproot again.”

“Just like that?” Raleigh asked. “I guess moving around a lot, being a military brat, does that to a guy?”

“Yeah… but nah.”

Raleigh frowned. Chuck wasn’t easy to understand at the best of times; he had a habit of giving half answers or being downright cryptic sometimes. For someone who was so brash and blunt most of the time he could be really indirect with his words too. “That….makes sense…?”

“Home ain’t a place.” Chuck clarified. “You can live anywhere. It’s… it’s who you’re with.”

Raleigh opened his mouth to speak but Chuck cut him off. “Say anything and I will shove your arse out of this car.”

Of course Raleigh couldn’t help himself though. “Aww, I always knew you were a big softie deep down inside.”

Chuck flicked the back on his head. “You’re a dick.”

Raleigh laughed softly. “I haven’t had a home in a very long time.” He closed his eyes and leant his head back into Chuck’s chest. “And I really love this one right here.”

Chuck was quiet and Raleigh didn’t need to see his face to know that it had most likely turned a shade redder. After a few moments he cleared his throat and said “That being said. I’d still really like to get the fuck out of here.”

“Ditto.”

Chuck pulled the coat around Raleigh a little tighter and the two sat and waited.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have tumblr for those who wanna say hi. http://davecabbage.tumblr.com/


End file.
